


Under Telperion's Shade

by ancient_moonshine



Series: Elanor and Niphredil [2]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Genre: Dark Lord!Shen Wei, Elf!Zhu Hong, Hobbit!Guo Chancheng, I do what I want, Lord Of The Rings AU, Maia!Da Qing, Uruk-Hai!Chu Shuzi, Vala!Shen Wei, complete bastardization of Tolkien's works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 02:00:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17091998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancient_moonshine/pseuds/ancient_moonshine
Summary: In which the Ringbearer speaks to the Lord of the Rings, and comes away with a few revelations.





	Under Telperion's Shade

**Author's Note:**

> I only read The Hobbit, TLOTR trilogy, and the Silmarillion, so there are gaps in my knowledge of Tolkien's mythos which I'm filling in with my own stuff, plus remixing different elements according to what I want to do. This fic ain't for purists, basically, because we'll likely end up annoying each other. :D

All things considered, nothing in Mordor was what Guo Changcheng expected it would be. When he’d toppled over after being almost stabbed by Ye Zun’s orcs he’d barely had the strength to crawl somewhere safe. Chief Zhao had held them off, yelling at Guo Changcheng to put on the ring, which he did.

After that had been a rush of dizzying power suffusing him and the sensation of _something_ very old and very powerful peeling back the layers of Guo Changcheng’s _fëa_  as it worked its will through him _._ Then Guo Changcheng had blacked out. When he came to, the Ring was gone. He was in tucked in bed, swathed in bandages, Chief Zhao grinning at him as he tapped the side of his face, telling him that they’d won. They’d beaten Ye Zun’s forces back, and they had Guo Changcheng to thank for the Black Envoy getting the One Ring back in time.

“He wants to meet you.” Chief Zhao had been kind enough to wait until Guo Changcheng had swallowed his cup of medicine before dropping that news on top of his head. He’d still spluttered and almost thrown up what he had managed to choke down, and Lady Zhu Hong of Mirkwood had yelled at the Chief for wasting medicine and being a childish ass.

So now, this is where Guo Changcheng finds himself. In the heart of Barad-Dur, stronghold of the Black Envoy, which is the least likeliest place a Hobbit from the Shire could ever expect to find himself in. He winds up clinging hard to Chu Shuzi to an embarrassing degree. Chief Zhao can’t accompany them, Da Qing had said there were things that the Steward of Gondor had to discuss with him. Guo Changcheng supposed it was because Chief Zhao was the leader of the Dunedain, and doesn’t question it. When he'd asked the Maia what to do, Da Qing had just shrugged and said "Try not to get thrown into Orodruin." before disappearing back into the treetops.

Chu Shuzi is silent beside Guo Changcheng. Guo Changcheng bites his lip. He’s tall for a hobbit, but he barely comes up to the Uruk-hair general’s elbow. Guo Changcheng’s usually grateful for it – especially as Chu Shuzi can fight and he can’t. Now it’s a trial to not make himself smaller, or shrink back at the orcs he sees, clans gathered together and watching and armed to the teeth. Though Gondor and Mordor were supposed to be at peace, united in an alliance against Ye Zun, it was an uneasy one between their peoples.

It’s a brutal, arid land. The brutal fumes of Mount Doom hanging over the land like a pall, and as Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzi move forward he sees children among them, and Guo Changcheng tries not to stare too hard. He hadn’t even known Orcs and Uruk-hai could bear children, but then again, Mordor was their sanctuary as Valinor would be for Da Qing and Zhu Hong. “It’s the only safe place for us.” Chu Shuzi had said once, and he hadn’t elaborated on the matter.

 “Chu-gege.” Guo Changcheng starts, plows ahead before he can lose his nerve. “Have you ever met the Black Envoy in person?”

“Of course.” Chu Shuzi answers shortly. “Why do you ask.”

“What’s he like?” Guo Changcheng asks. He winces, shrinks back Chu Shuzi’s expression softens just a bit.

“He’s very kind to those who deserve it.” He says. “You’ve got nothing to fear, Changcheng.” Before Guo Changcheng can splutter out another question, they’ve arrived.

An orc general stands guard, bows when he sees Chu Shuzi. He bows too, to Guo Changcheng when he sees him. Chu Shuzi takes him past the entrance to the Great Hall. There, the Black Envoy is seated on his throne.

The Giver of Gifts. Maker of the Rings of Power, formerly the Dark Lord Ye Zun's foremost servant. Guo Changcheng’s head spins when he tries to remember all of his titles as he bows deeply. But when he finally straightens up, the figure descending from his throne and bidding him to rise is nothing like what he expected he would be.

“You are the Ring-bearer.” The Black Envoy’s voice is deep and gentle. Changcheng had been expecting a fearsome monstrosity clad in heavy armor, commanding armies, with his voice warped by the Black Speech. He hadn’t expected a man who looked as young as the Elves in Rivendell and as fair, dressed in simply-cut black silk robes embroidered with intricate patterns in gold thread, his hair long and braided the way Elves wore them. The same sadness hangs around him, Changcheng notices. His eyes are very large, very dark, and very old in his young face.

“Thank you for keeping it safe for me.” The ring glitters on his finger in the firelight, a simple gold band. Nothing remarkable about it at all, and Changcheng swallows when he sees it. Remembers the weight of it hanging around his throat. The sheer malevolence he’d felt in the ring when he first wore it in Bree.

“I had to use it a couple of times.” He cringes when the words come spilling out without him meaning to, but he’s helpless to stop them. “I’m sorry! But there was a battle and I can’t fight so I had to disappear. Twice” Changcheng hunches his shoulders, making himself as small as possible. “I’m sorry.” He trembles, expecting to be struck down. What he doesn’t expect is the hand the Black Envoy places on his shoulder.

“There is no need to be afraid. I will not hurt you.” The Black Envoy says. His black eyes are warm and very kind. He gives Changcheng’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, and Changcheng stares at him stupidly, completely bewildered. “You kept someone very important to me safe. That is not a debt I can repay.” Changcheng’s confused, and then the Black Envoy gestures to him, bids him come follow him out of the hall. Only Chu Shuzi shadows them, and he gives Guo Changcheng an encouraging nod when he hesitates. 

The Black Envoy leads Guo Changcheng out of the palace into the courtyard. Mount Doom burns in the distance, but here there is the semblance of a small garden, mostly made of stones of different colors. Hardy, useful medicinal plants are laid out in beds, and Guo Changcheng’s surprised to see them, having thought the only place fertile enough for greenery to grow were the farmlands that lay beyond the fortress. And then he sees the small tree growing in the center of the Black Envoy’s courtyard. His jaw drops open.

“Is that-“ He whispers. It’s a small tree, barely a sapling, swaying slightly in the breeze. Its branches are dotted with a handful of silver-white flowers.

“The King of Gondor took a fruit from the White Tree and gave it to me.” The Black Envoy says. “A gift of peace. It’s not easy to care for, but it lives all the same.” He touches a petal of a flower lightly. The shape of the petals look familiar, and then suddenly Changcheng realizes where he’d seen it before.

Chief Zhao, he remembers, wore two rings. One was of two serpents entwined, the other a mithril flower, a carved white gem in the middle of it. Chief Zhao had mentioned offhand that one came from his father, the other from his wife. Something tickles at the back of Guo Changcheng’s mind. Something important, but for the life of him his brain can’t come up with the connection.

“Didn’t you force the last Numenorean king to cut their tree down?”  Guo Changcheng finally blurts out nervously, unable to stop the words running out of his mouth despite his growing horror at how they keep spilling out of him. “You wiped out the Elven kingdoms of the Second Age. Numenor, too.” He tries not to cringe away when the Black Envoy fixes that dark gaze on him.

“I cannot deny my involvement in both. For the latter, however.” The Black Envoy sets his hand on the White Tree’s trunk. The ring gleams on his finger. “I have been trying to atone.” Suddenly he looks so sad. Guo Changcheng’s scraping up the courage to ask him more when a familiar voice calls out.

“Tinuviel? There you are.” The Black Envoy’s expression lights up as Chief Zhao enters the courtyard, and Guo Changcheng is startled at how all the years and weariness seem to fall from him. But even more startling is the change on Chief Zhao’s.

Guo Changcheng had always vaguely thought that Chief Zhao would be handsome if someone were to give him a good scrubbing. He’s not wrong, but the mithril crown on his head certainly had its own effect, along with the blue velvet tunic, embroidered with the image of the same white tree growing in the Black Envoy’s garden. But the greatest change was the look on his face. The expression of a man who had finally arrived home, after an unbearably long time away.

Guo Changcheng feels very, very stupid. It’s not a new feeling, but definitely one he feels more keenly than ever, as Chief Zhao grins at the Black Envoy, takes his hands in his, running his thumb over the curve of the ring. 

“I’m glad you finally got it back.” He says. He nods in Guo Changcheng’s direction. “He had to use it for a bit, I know you won’t mind.” Guo Changcheng suddenly remembers putting the ring on and almost screaming at the sensation of _something_ trying to rip open his skull and peel open its contents. Then, Chief Zhao dragging him to a room in the Prancing Pony after he’d tugged it off his finger, yelling at him for drawing attention to himself. He’d then ripped the ring out of Guo Changcheng’s hands, Guo Changcheng, shaking so hard his teeth rattled, had been helpless to stop him from putting it on. But Chief Zhao hadn’t gone invisible, his expression gone distant like he was staring into the very heart of something that Guo Changcheng couldn’t see. After a while his expression had relaxed. He’d tossed the ring at Guo Changcheng with a grunt.

“There. You can use it now. All you ever had to do was ask permission and he wouldn’t have tried to kill you. Of course, you’ve got to return it. He needs it.” Guo Changcheng had shrunk back, but then the Ye Zun’s forces had then gone after them and Chief Zhao had dragged him off to Rivendell before he could protest. He hadn't dared use the Ring again until the last battle. 

Every now and then, Guo Changcheng had noticed Chief Zhao staring at the ring with an odd sort of longing. It had made him nervous, because hadn’t he been warned that the Ring and its master were one and the same, would tempt others to do his bidding? But Chief Zhao had just smiled at him a touch ruefully and said “I have my own ring.” Showing him the white star on his hand. Even a few feet away Changcheng could feel the steady, gentle thrum of power emanating from it, and the Ring hanging around his neck from a chain seemed to warm in response.

"I would carry yours if I could, Xiao Guo." Chief Zhao had told him. "But to wear both of them would end up with my getting burnt out by his power, and I made a promise to my wife to never take mine off. Not after last time." He's lowered his hand, voice full of regret. "You have to keep him safe for me, now." 

At the time, Guo Changcheng had thought he'd misheard the  _him,_ along with puzzling over who Chief Zhao's wife could be. None of the other members of the Fellowship had been particularly forthcoming, and Zhu Hong had looked particularly tight-lipped. But now...  

“Kun Lun.” The Black Envoy’s voice is soft. _King_ Kun Lun clears his throat, giving Guo Changcheng a pointed look over his shoulder. Guo Changcheng doesn’t need to be told twice.

He scampers off with a quick bow, Chu Shuzi following him. The last he sees before he all but runs out of the courtyard is the Black Envoy, still smiling, his eyes bright and full of gentle joy as Gondor’s king pulls him into his arms.


End file.
